When does a day begin? When does it end? Does dawn arrive with the distant blush of the dark sky? Or does it set in when a young sun hesitatingly appears at the horizon? Does the dwindling warmth announce a day’s demise, or does it linger till the last light is sucked out? Day is imperceptibly born in dawn and dissolves as furtively in dusk. Autumn unhurriedly begets winter. Winter disappears in spring. Spring after a protracted labour births summer that unbeknownst metamorphoses into autumn. When does life begin? Does the beat of foetus’ heart announce a new life? What about the three-day old embryo or a single-celled zygote after fertilization of the egg? Or each of the ova and the millions of sperm? Each of these throbs with potential of bringing forth a new life. Nature goes on cycling in its rhythm, ceaselessly and imperturbably. These relentless revolutions, pursued over eons, give rise to variations. Newer elements born with their unique cycles mingle in the grind of unive...
How does one know past? Is history faithful in capturing it? Is history a discovery or an invention? History is the study of past societies, cultures, and civilisations. Historians analyse material remains of old civilisations such as archaeological diggings, artifacts, documents, and literature to build their narrative. They write about events removed hundreds and thousands of generations from their time. Cultures and civilisations are the product of human thought. And thoughts change with time Stones do not speak. Mind, with its ideas, is not fossilised. Zeitgeist is not recorded on imperishable tablets. Sketchy written documents, if any are available, never relate a cogent, verifiable narrative. How do historians then collate history of ideas from the material evidence they study? When the evidence is so feeble, what is it that allows an historian to read the mind of historical figures, to discover intentions behind their apparent actions, to comment on their morals? Historians...
I have had holidays that were relaxing but the holidays were not relaxed. I plan each vacation meticulously and squeeze as many experience in a day as appear feasible. I have stayed at some exotic locales in these vacations: in a sprawling house on a hill overlooking the cerulean Mediterranean, in a house, every window of which opened to mesmerizing views of Hauraki gulf on Waiheke Island, in an apartment that faced Pacific in Wellington. But I did not sit amid this surreal scenery, unhurriedly drinking its beauty. I would leave soon after breakfast chasing my itinerary and drive back in the late evening; to begin another schedule of touring the next day. I know people who go on holidays only to relax. They drive to the destination in a hired cab, stay put in the place for weeks, then hire another cab on return. I envy their poise, their equanimity, and their single-minded pursuit of a goal. But I am unable to follow their example. Perhaps, it is a restless natu...
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